


Snow and Ash

by Aurora



Category: Once Upon a Time (2011)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-21
Updated: 2011-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-27 16:18:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/297728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurora/pseuds/Aurora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How the friendship of Snow White and Cinderella began, and most importantly, how they discover the two of them have much in common after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snow and Ash

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cero_ate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cero_ate/gifts).



Snow White had never been to these parts before. She wasn’t quite sure how she got here; she had had to run for her lives from trolls who were convinced she’d ripped them off earlier and had just ran blindly through the woods. Now that she’d finally lost them, she found herself in some kind of clearing that turned out to be the edge of the woods. In front of her, visible from among the trees, there was a house.

She was exhausted, hungry, thirsty, and all out of supplies. To make the trek back and figure out where she was even supposed to go seemed out of the question. But should she risk asking for help from whomever lived in that small house? She examined it from behind the trees carefully, trying to ascertain who might be living there and, more importantly, whether or not they would recognize her face and deliver her to the Queen upon sight.

But despite having spent a long time in these woods now, Snow didn’t recognize this area at all. It was entirely possible that she had run all the way out of the Queen’s domain and into someone else’s. Into a place where nobody would know of her or the Queen.

A moment later, while she was still contemplating, the door of the house creaked open. A young girl stepped out of it, holding a broom on her hand. There was some kind of understated beauty about her. With blonde hair and blue eyes, she was pretty in her own way, even if she wasn’t adorned with jewels or wearing nice clothes. In fact, she looked downright disheveled, but Snow felt like she could easily be a princess. Her instincts told her this girl wasn’t dangerous. She seemed scared and miserable, but she would probably not report Snow to the authorities even if she knew of her wanted status. So finally, carefully, Snow stepped out from the trees, and showed herself to the girl.

“Hello there,” she said with a smile.

The girl jumped, startled. She looked at Snow with wide eyes, as if she thought she was seeing a ghost. “Who… who are you? Where did you come from?” she stammered.

“I have traveled from very far and I’m exhausted. If I may; I could use a little food and water, and then after a little rest I’ll be on my way again. Would it be possible at all for you to help me?”

The girl looked hesitant. She glanced at the house then back to Snow. The girl seemed to be searching Snow’s face as if trying to determine whether to trust her or not. Eventually, she seemed to come to a decision. “I… I suppose so. But you have to wait here, okay?”

Snow nodded and waited as the girl disappeared back inside. A few minutes later she returned with two pieces of bread and a glass of water. “Here you go,” she said, handing the food and water to Snow.

“Thank you,” Snow said sincerely. “What’s your name?”

The girl didn’t immediately answer, as if she was unsure of her own name. “Ella,” she said at last, a note of defiance in her voice. “But they all call me Cinderella.”

“Why? Who are they?” Snow broke a piece of the bread and started eating it, leaning against a nearby tree.

“My stepmother and stepsisters. They made me work for them, and I’m always covered in dust and ash… so that’s where the nickname came from,” Ella said bitterly.

“I’ve never heard of a nickname that makes your name longer than it actually is,” Snow laughed a little, and that made Ella smile.

“I know, they’re just silly,” she rolled her eyes. But beneath the light tone Snow could easily see the years of sadness and bitterness that had been mounting up within her new friend. She suddenly wished there was something she could do to help Ella. But what could she do when her own life was a mess? She could barely survive on her own these days. She was no longer a princess; she was a thief.

“So what’s _your_ name?” Ella asked, and this time it was Snow’s turn to hesitate at the question. Finally, she decided to take the risk.

“Snow White.”

Ella didn’t react. Maybe she had no idea who Snow was after all. All she said was, “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Snow.”

Snow smiled. “It’s very nice to meet you too, Ella.”

***

The engagement party for Prince Thomas and his future bride was a big occasion. When Snow White and Prince James arrived as their guests of honor, the castle ballroom was already packed with guests from all kingdoms.

“There’s Thomas. Let’s congratulate him first,” James said, tugging Snow toward the happy couple standing among their guests, accepting everyone’s good wishes. Snow smiled in excitement; she was eager to see the princess whom she had not met before. When they finally reached the celebrating couple, James quickly shook Thomas’s hand heartily. “Thomas. A very big congratulations to you both.”

Snow quickly followed suit, and the other prince smiled. “Thank you, James. Snow White,” he nodded at them both, then looked toward his fiancé, whose back was to them as she excused herself from yet another guest. “Meet my lovely future bride, Princess Ella.”

His fiancé finally turned to face them then, and when Snow was finally granted a view of the mysterious princess, she gasped.

“What’s wrong, dear?” James asked in alarm.

“El—” Snow stammered, but Ella’s surprised recognition that turned into panic and a quick shaking of her head stopped Snow from finishing her sentence. “ _Princess_ Ella,” she corrected quickly, summoning a smile on her face. “It’s so good to finally meet you.” She glanced at James. “I’m alright, dear, I was just surprised at how… well, how pretty the princess is! Thomas, you are one lucky guy,” she beamed.

“Why thank you, Snow, I think so too,” Thomas replied with a grin.

“May I, uh… steal Ella for a moment so that we can get to know each other better?” Snow asked, and the two men quickly agreed. They had their own business to attend to as well. Snow gently guided Ella away from them, and when the two women had arrived at a relatively quiet spot, Ella finally sighed in relief.

“Thank you so much for not telling them about our first encounter,” she told Snow.

“Ella, what on earth happened? How did you go from… from a maid to a princess? I mean, I’m not saying that I’m not excited for you because I am, terribly so! But you must tell me everything,” Snow said excitedly.

“Speak for yourself! Last I saw you, you were a traveler wandering the woods without food and water, and now look at you!” Ella replied, shaking her head in wonder. After that first meeting, who would have thought that the next time they met both their fates would have changed so drastically?

“Well, I wasn’t very honest with you at the time,” Snow admitted guiltily. “I actually have been a princess all my life. It’s just… my father married someone else after my mother died, and the new Queen hated me. She tried to kill me and I became hunted in my own kingdom, so I had to take to the woods and live as a thief.”

Ella looked at Snow in disbelief. “Stepmothers,” she shook her head, this time in disgust.

Snow laughed. “Who would have thought that we have so much in common? So what’s _your_ story?”

“Well, I really was a maid,” Ella said drily. “But then one night when the King invited all the ladies to a ball in the castle so the prince can look for a wife, a…” Ella seemed unsure for a moment, before she continued her story, “a Fairy Godmother came to me. She… turned me into a princess. Gave me a beautiful gown, a pair of glass slippers… and I came to the ball. And I met Thomas there, and we fell in love.”

“Oh, Ella, that’s wonderful! It’s exactly what you deserve. I’m so glad that you got out of that horrible life.”

“Yes, well, sometimes you just have to go for what you want, right?” There was something unreadable in Ella’s eyes as she said that, but Snow decided not to let it bother her too much. This was a wonderful occasion and she was very happy for her friend.

“But wait… does that mean Thomas doesn’t know yet?” she asked, remembering Ella’s panicked reaction when Snow was about to tell everyone she’d recognized her.

“About my old life? No,” Ella said, suddenly looking sad. “That’s what’s worrying me. I feel bad hiding it from him, but… what if he doesn’t love me anymore once he finds out I’m not a real princess?”

“Ella, you’ll always be a real princess. It’s something that’s in you, not something that depends on what you’re wearing or the riches you have. And give your fiancé more credit. James and I have known him for a while and he’s a good person. He won’t leave you just because he knows about your past.”

“But it’s embarrassing! His people can’t know that his wife used to be a maid.”

“Well, a good future king does what’s right in his heart, not what’s considered appropriate by some old laws and shallow rules.”

Ella looked at Snow pleadingly. “Are you _sure_ he won’t leave me if I tell him?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Snow squeezed Ella’s hand for support. “And he needs to know, Ella. If he can’t love you for everything that you are… if he only loves you because he thinks you’re a princess… then he doesn’t deserve you anyway.”

Ella smiled, and this time she seemed hopeful. Snow hugged her and wished her luck, and Ella promised to tell Thomas before the wedding.

***

Snow crawled onto the big royal bed she was sharing with James, where her husband was already sitting with a book on her lap. His attention, previously absorbed completely by the book, immediately turned to her once she snuggled onto his side. He closed the book and put it on the bedside table, then smiled to his wife. “How’d it go?”

“Good,” Snow replied with a grin. “Thomas reacted better than we expected. He didn’t even seem all that shocked, and he immediately assured Ella that this doesn’t change anything. The wedding’s still on.”

James’s face brightened. “That’s what I like to hear. I knew you girls had no reason to worry.”

“Well, I suppose I might have let Ella’s nervousness infect me,” Snow admitted with a laugh. “But in the end Thomas convinced him that he fell in love with Ella, no matter who she was. He didn’t just fall in love with a pretty princess.” She seemed thoughtful for a moment, then she looked up at James, studying him intently.

“What?” he asked, seeming nervous about the scrutiny.

“And what about you, James?” she asked teasingly. “Did you fall in love with Princess Snow White, or Snow White the thief who stole your wedding ring?”

James laughed. “Oh, the thief, definitely. You stole my heart too that day, you know. The way you stole my wedding ring that eventually became yours anyway…” James shook his head, thinking about the beautiful irony of it all. “That’s so typical of you to just take what you wanted from me, wasn’t it?” he asked with a grin. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you that you have to wait for your prince to _ask_ you to marry him first?”

Snow punched him playfully in the arm. “I’m not an old-fashioned woman,” she said proudly. “Like Ella said, sometimes we have to go for what we want ourselves.”

James smiled. “Well, you’ve definitely got me now, darling. And I’m afraid you’re stuck with me forever too. I don’t come with return policies.”

“That’s just the way I like it,” Snow smiled back, and leaned for a kiss.


End file.
